Nothing Matters When We're Dancing
by whereverwithyou
Summary: Just a short bit of Caveline fluff inspired by the Magnetic Fields song "Nothing Matters When We're Dancing." Cover art by silverstreams, who was nice enough to let me use it here.


A/N: Just a little thing I threw together, because "Nothing Matters When We're Dancing" is a perfect Caveline song. It's definitely not fleshed out enough and I don't like the ending at all, but it's New Year's so I'm gonna post it while I've had too much champagne to care. The cover art for this fic was done by the lovely silverstreams :)

Nothing Matters When We're Dancing

_Maybe it does look good on him, _Caroline thought to herself as she watched her boss chat up a group of half-disinterested, half-disgusted businessmen on the other side of the room.

"You're really going to wear that?" she'd asked a few hours ago when he'd taken the checkered pants, gaudy yellow blazer, and deafeningly loud tie out of his closet.

"Yeah, why shouldn't I?" Cave said defensively as he struggled with the last article.

"Well, the conventions of fashion, for one," Caroline replied as she walked up to her boss and took the ends of the tie in her own hands. The ensemble may have been ugly, but she knew even as she teased him about it that he wasn't going to change a thing. In the end, it was better to just help things move along quicker, in the hopes that maybe they might actually get there on time.

"What are you talking about?" Cave protested. "I love this suit."

"It's not a suit," Caroline corrected him. "It's a mess of different items you've collected over the years that you're calling a suit. None of it matches!"

Cave scowled. "It's just the lighting in here," he defended. "You'll see."

And maybe it had been. As Caroline stared admiringly at the silver-tongued CEO, she got the impression that he was the most self-assured, commanding person in the room. _Or maybe I've gotten further into this bottle of wine than I thought_, she realized.

Who was she kidding, anyway? Of course Cave would be the most impressive person here. This wasn't the black-tie science company galas and holiday balls of the past, the days of invitations from DuPonts and GEs. This was the Michigan State Annual Businessmen and Achievers Dinner. Everyone else looked like used car salesmen. And yet they all somehow still seemed to give off the feeling that Cave and Caroline weren't wanted here, like they'd only received an invitation by mistake.

It was sad that even these small honors were near failures now; that everyone had abruptly forgotten all of the innovations and achievements Aperture had amassed the second the Senate Hearings began. A black tie gala was something Caroline knew they'd never be invited to again, but now it was seeming that embarrassingly minor shindigs would soon be out of the question, too.

Cave was doing what he always did, of course, which was to try his best to fly in the face of it. He'd spent the evening barreling through everyone's sideways glares and ignoring their secretive whispers, hoping that if he talked long enough and said the right things, he'd somehow make himself respected again. But even though his speeches still could move Caroline almost to the point of tears, she knew it wasn't the same for Michigan's finest businessmen. She could tell from observing him that Cave was starting to falter, to succumb to the same self-consciousness that had led Caroline to stare down a bottle of wine rather than look up at the disapproving sneers on the faces of the well-dressed housewives around her.

Caroline fiddled with the fabric of her gown. It was simultaneously too fancy for the occasion, having originally been bought for one of yesteryear's prestigious balls, and too ratty, having wrinkled and frayed in the confinement of her closet for the past 15 years. She was so busy staring at the tattered fabric that she didn't notice her boss returning to their table.

"Some party, huh?" Cave said sarcastically. "I didn't know they gave out invitations for comic relief these days."

Caroline shook her head. "I'm sure it's not that bad," she offered, despite knowing exactly how big a lie she was telling. "You seemed to be warming them up quite well over there."

"Yeah, warming them up to take shots at me," Cave answered. "I'm the laughingstock even at a cheap party like this."

Caroline sighed. "I'm sorry, sir."

"No, I'm sorry," Cave countered. "I shouldn't have even brought you here. I just thought maybe it would be nice to do something fun for a change. If I'd known what it was going to be like, I never would've RSVP'd."

The dejected CEO reached for his glass of wine and finished it off. When he brought his eyes back on level with his assistant's, however, there was a different look in them. The anger, resentment, and embarrassment were gradually starting to melt away in favor of something more... unusual.

"Sir?" Caroline asked, noting the change.

Cave chuckled. "I was so wrapped up in defending my outfit earlier that I never did tell you how beautiful you look," he answered.

"Sir..." Caroline said again, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks.

"Really," Cave assured her. "You're the prettiest woman in this room by a mile. And I'm not just saying that because you're surrounded by bucktoothed housewives."

Caroline tried not to laugh as her boss continued.

"You've always been the prettiest, at everyone one of the stupid events we've gone to."

Caroline contemplated brushing the compliment off, but instead she felt her smile growing under the warm praise of her boss.

"And one thing I didn't do enough of at those other parties..." Cave said, standing up. He extended his hand towards Caroline. "...was ask you to dance."

Caroline felt the embarrassment return. "Here?" she asked, noting that the band was barely trying and no one else was on the dance floor.

"Why not?" Cave asked. "I wanna ditch these snobs as much as you do, but we gotta show 'em we had fun first." Caroline hesitated. "C'mon," her boss continued. "Let's go out on a high note."

Caroline smiled. "Yes sir, Mr. Johnson," she answered, taking his hand.

As they spun around, Caroline found herself completely lost in the motions. Initially, she'd been worried about forgetting the steps after so long, or if dancing would even be possible to whatever this excuse for a melody was. But now it seemed like her feet weren't even connected to the rest of her, and the music had faded from her perception long ago. She and Cave were floating, and as she looked into his admiring eyes, she saw the parties of the past and present blur together into this one dance. _Yes_, she thought as the sharp-dressed entrepreneur of the past meshed together with the weary, but still admirable CEO of the present, _the suit does look good on him._


End file.
